[IDrinkYourMilkShake]

(07-30-2016 04:35 AM)El_Gostro Wrote:  

Actually I have been working on and off for the last two years on a sort of funny book presented as "guide" or "hobodex" (think a bird watcher's guide) with typical traveling archetypes,complete with methods of engagement and geographical distribution.
I would throw in an index that I guess would be very similar to the data sheet compiled in this thread

Great to hear! Looking forward to the release whenever that will be. Im pretty sure that there would be a hughe interest for itin general.

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I think you made the best choice for the long run, man.
I have some varied tidbits of knowledge of this and that from my moving around but at the end of the day its a tattered rag of patchy knowledge tied together by the sheer power of imagination whereas it sounds as if you achieved solid knowledge of certain crafts.

Thanks for saying that, yeah Im not regreting anything today. I realized that im just like evryone else in the sence of being a comfortable first world guy with goals that doesnt fit that lifestyle. Still, I admire what you have done and the experiences you have gathered.

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Believe me ,I am quite relieved to hear this from a fellow RVF member!
Debeguilled's question actually made me once again type "Woofing is a scam" and other similar entries in google with barely any result.
And once again I found nearly no genuinely negative or objective analysis of the WOOFing operation. Practically all articles were written by whiney omega male hipsters and entitled fatties.
However I was able to extract some silver linings: A couple of bloggers-both male interestingly enough- actually dared to do a timid attack on the administration of WOOFing and on how the information provided by the "employers" is bullshit and very far away from the actual thing.
In many articles it is stated that,like with volunteering scams,many woofing hosts actually charge their guests/workers!
Your reply sheds a new light of hope to me as practically every thing I ever read about WOOF,like with vegan student kitches is something that seems reserved to a financially relaxed and tween section of the western populace.

And just for kicks: WOOFing is in a legal gray area in most countries,the site suggests you do not mention in Visas/customs that you are in X country for a WOOfing experience

Interesting, That description of the people WOOFing and the lack of objective/negative publicity also match the folks I encountered. I remember this brittish guy that had been there for like six months and could be described as part hipster I guess, nice guy in his 20's but dull and naive af. He had that romantic view of manual labor and would constantly point out that this was his first physical job and how great it was, when infact it wasnt that hard and physical at all and during that time he had not gained any skills what so ever during that time. Of course it depends from where you come from, I have worked as a laborer at a landscaping firm and as a wrecker, plus some wearhouses and comparing with them this place was nothing, just occasinally would there be some hard tasks for a couple of hours but never the full day. Once when we where digging down some tubes this guy was huffing and puffing like he was running a marathon and didnt manage to push the wheelbarrow up a small hill later. Im not trying to sound like some wannabee-bad ass, just that these people would constantly glorify the fact that they where doing manual labor at some organic farm when in reality no one of them would have managed to hang in on a real physical job. Bad reality check.

I also got the impression that most of them where from quite well of places (except the greeks), and since they had choosed to be there and had a lot of free time mixed with the romantic view of farm life I guess that made them overly positive and dilusional to the whole thing. The owners where also overestimating the pros of the place, when I told them I was leaving they where truly surprised and wondered why? and said that I could stay and maybe ask the local employment service center to get some wellfare aid. Officially I was on vacation and living of my savings, but I knew that I could be back at my job the next day if I wanted to, I had my own place and was going to uni soon and they knew it so I cant really figure out how the hell they thought that this was a good 'offer' for me.

There where some people that had to be there because of goverment plan on longtime unemployed people in order for them to keep getting their wellfare check. Sounds like a good idea to weed out the slackers, but one gentleman there where a construction worker that was unemployable because of an injury he got at his former job, so now he was there working full time for minimum wellfare. One day he was gone and I asked where he was, the foreman said angrily that he was ungreatful and just took of, demanding his contact to give him something else to do. The owners where officially super PC and would talk about the unjustice of the world, about union busting in third world countries and the importance of equality among people of color, rich and poor. Guess ethnic white blue collar men doesnt count.
So yeah, I also wondered about how legal some of the activity WOOFing does really is. So to sum it up on why few talk about the scam much of it is could be that those who participate dont have little touch with reality and are basicly cucked beliving they are doing something great, maybe.